u_u Facing the Day

u_u Does anybody have any advice for somebody who keeps crawling back into the bed covers every time they're done eating breakfast? The extra sleep I've been taking ranges from 1.5 hrs to 4 hrs. Today it was about 2 hours... granted, this has only been going on for the last three days, so maybe it's just a thing I'll get out of?

I'd really appreciate any advice I can get. I feel like it's due to just... not wanting to face the day, maybe being afraid of something--of submitting lackluster work? Which makes no sense because I've been doing just fine for months now. I feel like last week's political events may have had something to do with with my overall drop in feelings.

But yeah, I appreciate any advice I can get. I might try to make a list of 'Things to Look Forward To When I Get Up' tonight.

*hugggs* Haha, my problem is I keep coming back... I'm trying to do stuff like dump stuff on the bed (that I can easily get rid of later) so I don't get tempted to lie down. It's a sofabed, so I usually put it in sofa form to discourage sleeping, but it hasn't really worked haha...

1. Politics and society in general are depressing as HELL right now. If you are in the habit of doing anything stressful and/or electronic-media-related right before bed, try to get off of it earlier and/or switch to lighter fare. (Yes, I'm aware of the irony.) If you haven't already, get one of the apps that dims and orange-tints your displays at night as a silent signal. Give yourself warm fuzzies of some kind before winding down at night.

2. However much later you are getting up, try going to bed that much earlier for about 3 nights, if you can. Try to have a soothing bedtime routine with extra self-care (I like hot herbal tea, long showers, stuffed animals, and New Age music) to make the transition earlier. If you actually NEED more sleep right now, then if and when you adapt to going to bed earlier, getting up earlier will be easier too. If you don't NEED the extra sleep and it's something else out of whack, this will be useless because either (a) you'll fall asleep, albeit with a struggle, and still be sleepy in the morning even after several days of trying (common in cases of biorhythms being in the wrong time zone(s) e.g. with SAD, depression, simple stress, timing of daily routines) (b) you won't be able to get to sleep early at all (many possible reasons) - but you'll know that it is or is not just a case of 'oops, body/brain is working extra hard and needs more rest.' Chamomile tea around supper time or even just before early bedtime can be very helpful, although people with allergies and/or on medications should be cautious.

3. Get a sun lamp NOW ohmygoodness everyone stressed in wintertime EVER needs one of these (unless they are outright intolerant of sunlight / blue light, hello migraine and sensory people, I see you over there) ... okay not everyone but probably ten times the number of people who have them. Just turning it on and sitting with it in the morning helps me to boot up. The effect is subtle, but if you put the turned-on lamp somewhere and then find yourself unconsciously wandering towards it, you need that lamp.

4. Take your time getting ready for the day, but get yourself all the way ready, shoes and all. Then go for an outing (whatever that looks like for you; for some people, it won't even involve physically going *out* if their health or the local climate is not up for it, but instead some similar face-the-day activity). For me, going for a walk around the block is good. Then tell yourself, "I can go as far as I want, but I don't have to. Just one (walk around the block, turn around the yard, paragraph typed, five-minute yoga meditation, etc) is enough for now." Then, do what you feel like; even if you turn right around, having already gotten ready and gotten out might make it easier to get out again.

5. Take care of your mood and your self-efficacy with self-compassion; identifying and taking small, concrete, effective action steps; and gentle distractions. Those negative feelings you've identified as possibly related probably ARE related, and the triggers are unlikely to vanish, but you can learn to work with what you've got now.

6. If you do fall back asleep, don't worry too much. Try to forgive yourself, adapt your plans for the day, and try something a little different tomorrow.

Thank you so much for this!! I might consider getting a sunlamp... a new building started construction literally right outside our unit, and it's blocked out all the sunlight we normally get >_< Sigh! Plus it's incredibly noisy every day now... aaaghhh.

I think a morning walk would do me some good. I need to go get myself some new clothes... some of mine have seemingly gone missing (??) and a lot don't fit me anymore, haha.

Is there a sequence of small things that you can or have to du when you first get up? If you can get yourself momentum then, you might be able to fill on through the not wanting to and it the other side into "hey, my day is already productive, let's keep going."